Georgia veteran says VA takes months to course of ache reliever submitting – WSB-TV Channel 2

ATLANTA – A Georgia veteran has been trying for months to get the Veterans Administration to handle the paperwork required for him to see doctors.

He reached out to Channel 2 Action News after crashing into a wall with the Atlanta VA.

Because of the very unique morphine pump that the VA surgically placed in James Yarbrough’s body, he cannot get this pain treatment at the Atlanta VA Medical Center and has to go to an outside specialist.

But he’s been waiting for his doctors with VA paperwork since the summer. If that pump hadn’t been filled this week, Yarbrough would have been sent off on serious withdrawals.

“I’m scared. I’m past the point of frustration, of fear,” Yarbrough told Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray.

The Air Force veteran relies on a morphine pump to relieve the pain in his back after a duty-related injury.

The pump installed by the VA does this without crossing the blood-brain barrier and provides pain relief without a high.

“I couldn’t function without that. I couldn’t have a life at all, ”said Yarbrough.

However, the pump must be refilled every 3 months. And Yarborough’s VA Community Care approval to see his pain doctor expires every 6 months.

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That deadline was in August, but this week his paperwork was still stuck somewhere in the VA bureaucracy.

Now his pump is out of medication.

“What does this empty pump mean?” asked Gray Yarbrough.

“Pain. That’s the scariest thing, it’s the pain,” said Yarbrough.

A letter sent from the VA secretary to members of Congress earlier this month stated that the department plans to do away with its community nursing office.

“This is required by law. It’s not the VA’s choice whether or not to offer veterans this option? ”Gray asked Dan Caldwell of Concerned Veterans for America.

“Absolutely. This was decided by an overwhelming bipartisan majority,” said Caldwell.

The VA said the reorganization of the practice will provide more efficient care and will continue to provide access to private doctors.

However, Caldwell fears that Yarbroughs’ case is not an isolated one.

“This is the law and unfortunately we have seen the VA undermine the spirit, if not the letter of the law, on many occasions,” said Caldwell.

In a statement, Atlanta Gray’s VA said it was unable to discuss the case for patient privacy reasons, but that: “The Atlanta VA healthcare system is always working to make decisions that are in the best medical interests of our veterans . Whenever a veteran or family member raises a concern, we speak to them directly, just as we did for this particular case. “

“I don’t want to believe that a human would do this man. Not me. I hope they don’t know how to do their job, ”said Yarbrough.

The health company that refills Yarborough’s pump paid this week to refill it themselves for him to keep him from going into morphine withdrawal and is handling the $ 800 bill.

As for the VA, just hours after Gray contacted them about this case, Yarbrough’s papers approving his maintenance were finally ready more than 2 months later than they should.

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